Welcome To The Machine
by WanderingOisin
Summary: A witch claims to have powers to heal Kagome, but she may have more sinister ideas in mind for Inuyasha.
1. The Ingress

Welcome to The Machine  
  
Chapter I: The Ingress  
  
I wonder, if, after I am gone, the universe will remember me. In the wake of what I am forced to do, I suppose my name and identity will be lost forever to posterity. I will slip through Time's gnarled, ageworn fingers like a grain of sand, washed away as the tides of time ebb from the shore. But this is how it must be. I am to work in ambiguity, none will know my name, none will see my face, none will hear my voice. But I am all around them, I surround them like the air they breathe; they are inside of me, part of me. But they will not know my name. To know one's name is to control them, so an old maxim says. They will not control me, they will not know me, my name shall never be spoken from their lips, their eyes shan't behold my visage, their ears hear only the breeze as I speak to them in riddles. No, they will not know my name, I say. For my name is a thing that is not a thing, a word that is not a word. It is a reality, a state of existence, and one that so many are part of and so few ever experience. Are you a part of me?

* * *

Grass crunched beneath her feet, nipping between her toes as the ragged band walked through a green field, mottled with the yellow and blue of wildflowers. Inuyasha, broodingly silent and noncommital, walked beside her, immersed in his thoughts. Miroku and Sango hung back a little, hand in hand, wordless in their contained, joyful reverie at the approaching marriage, but respectful of Inuyasha's emotional dilemma. Shippo rode atop Kirara's back, drifting in and out of sleep, soothed by the lolling of the animal's gentle gait.   
  
So, Kagome was finally going home, never to return. Of course, she promised to come see them, visit on occasion, perhaps even stay overnight a few times, but everyone knew that, though they didn't doubt her sincerity, these were just wistful musings. Kagome, their Kagome, Inuyasha's Kagome, would leave them forever, becoming nothing but a deliciously depressing memory of a time long ago. Kagome knew this was hard for them, particularly for Inuyasha, but they could not imagine how she was feeling.   
  
After recovering the jewel, she simply handed it to Inuyasha, never even discussed her staying. He knew that it was impossible to stay, impossible to go with her, but knowing something is not possible only makes it hurt more. She knew this as well, realizing that talking about such a thing would also only make the pain more unbearable, and so decided to let silence hold a general reign over the group.   
  
Up ahead, mixing and melting with the marshmallow clouds above them, fluffy, gray plumes of smoke twirled and writhed upward into azure, dissolving into another cumulus bundle of cotton. The village was up ahead, she thought sadly. Those few, precious, meaningless moments in between events in our lives make them all the more worth living. The same could be said in said circumstance. Simply walking beside him, in glorious, albeit somewhat gloomy, quietude was something Kagome had always treasured, even more so now than ever before. In an hour, perhaps two, they would be at a village, hoping to contact some anonymous witch or soothsayer and convince her to, out of kindness, heal the mass of scar tissue on the back of her neck, meandering from the base of her skull down to the small of her back. All of this seemed only a pointless distraction. Kagome cared little now about the scar, and even less about this witch.   
  
A rebellious sigh sieved through her pink-gray lips, being audible only to a certain nearby youkai. He glanced sidelong at her, then glared distantly at the green earth. He could tell that she was feeling sad. What she did not understand was, while she would go home and have family and friends to comfort her and see her through the pain, he had no one. Sango and the monk would be married off soon, leaving only Shippou, as Kirara would stay with her master. The little kitsune might hang around for a while, but eventually he would leave for some reason. Sooner or later, Inuyasha would be alone again. He could shrug it off and put up a external guise of apathy, but, inside, he would be just as alone as ever. He might as well be dead.  
  
By now, they had reached the fringes of the town and skirted around to where the main road went out, off, away into the distant, dim mountains. The simple, hardworking plebeians of this town seemed like ancient, moving statues, weathered by Time and the long, biting winds of life. They walked unhurriedly throught the dusty street, pushing their hay-carts or carrying their dry goods on their backs, like Sisyphus, always pushing, never seeming to move anywhere, trapped in a moment that never appeared to end. Quietly, Inuyasha asked a withered old gentleman about the witch. Without saying a word, the man pointed a gnarled, bony hand toward a rocky scar on the outskirts of the other side of the small village. A nod was the only sign that Inuyasha understood. The man went back to fruitlessly pushing his metaphorical boulder up that steep incline as the six strangers walked on.

* * *

There is a place, outside of this village. A beautiful landscape of verdant fields and evanescent mountains was marred only by a coal-black stretch of land, about a half-mile long, that the villagers called The Scar. Strewn with jagged, achromatic rocks and simmering, seething volcanic vents that pervaded the air with the thick odor of sulphur, The Scar had been always the meeting place for an esoteric circle of Truthsayers and anile old witches with intense emnity toward mankind. Some said that some had been murdered for revealing certain secrets that were not meant to leave The Circle. Among this group of mystic was a feeble beldame, Emi, who had been cursed with the bitter irony of her name. A mane of colorless hair fell in a drizzled mass in front of vacant, black eyes. Her eybrows were thick and white and had almost joined in the middle, while her nose seemed bent slightly to the left, with a small dent in the side. Her toothless mouth caved inward, covered only by thin, grey lips. Emi hated her mother deeply for giving her life, and giving such a mockingly sweet name to such an ugly, deformed little baby girl. Yes, behind those dead eyes lied a bitter and hateful soul. Never had those lips felt a loving kiss from any but her mother, and never had her wrinkled skin felt the gentle caress of a man.  
  
On this particular night, a moonless night dotted with fulgent white spheres in the heavens above, The Circle members gathered in a semicircle around the watchfire, staring through the dancing flames to the cloaked figure who gazed back at them from behind a hood. The occasion flicker of light danced across an inkvine scar across her cheek, reflecting darkly in those cold, black eyes. She held out a hand to silence them, and prepared to speak. Only the crackling and popping of the furnace before her disrupted the holy calm that held the night in tension. Her voice echoed eerily throughout the large, cathedral cave.  
  
"Comrades!" She cried out, in a shrill, squeaking voice. "I have meditated on...the matter at hand. The gods have made a decision!"  
  
"And?" One ventured to ask.  
  
"I have seen death, fire, and pain..." She pointed into the darkness. "...at the hands of One Who Is Yet To Come. He wears a mane of white and strikes with flaming claws, spews flames from his mouth, tears flesh with his fangs. His is a monster, a demon who comes to destroy us all. But he will not succed!"  
  
Her dry, old hand passed in a slow circle through the flames, the flames nipping at her fingertips.  
  
"The rosewater has shown me a catalyst, one who will change his evil into calm. She is called Hotaru, the firefly, the God-light, who will lure him to us, only to watch in horror as we squeeze his troubled little soul into submission." She slowly clenched her long-nailed fingers into a tight fist amidst the flames, then opened them, revealing a small bronze ring, with a tiny crystal imbedded in the center. "...And then, my comrades, he will be ours."


	2. The Riddle of Being

Welcome To The Machine  
  
Chapter II: The Riddle of Being  
  
Firelight flickered in amorphous, dancing patterns across the blades of grass beneath them. Kagome sat, hunched near the fire, warming her hands from the cold night. Sango had gone to sleep on a bed of leaves nearby, Miroku was leaning in his stoic fashion against a large rock, asleep, and Shippo had curled up against Kirara while waiting for Kagome to go to bed. Above their heads, Inuyasha was perched silently in a large tree above, as it was the new moon.  
  
In noctilucent, wordless songs, the white stars in the blue-black sky over their heads wavered into the solemn night. A lonely warble, sounding much like frogs or crickets, sounded in sympathy with the forlorn background of nighttime. As unnatural as the night seemed, it was also very peaceful.   
  
The troupe had decided to spend the night out on the meadowland, under the stars for this one, last night, under the waxen green canopy a large tree. Kagome could not find it in herself to fall asleep, though she was exhausted. If she fell asleep, this precious moment in time would be lost forever, never to return. So she decided then to stay in this single, meaningful moment for eternity. She would stay in a living photograph, one capturing all these cherished faces, recording all those cherished voices, as if on celluloid, to capture one ephemeral moment for time immemorial.   
  
"I suppose that's the riddle of our being," She murmured to herself. "to grasp and hold onto something so tightly, even when we know we will lose it someday. What queer creatures we humans are."  
  
She chuckled lightly at herself, mumbled "Gosh, Kagome, lighten up." to the fire, and laid herself on the soft, noisy cushion of leaves.  
  
Above, Inuyasha stared with an intense gaze upon the sleeping girl.   
  
'It hurts,' He thought, 'To know that the only way to save Kagome...'  
  
Inuyasha cast a sweeping gaze out over the silver moonscape below.  
  
'...Is to forget her.'  
  
"Ichi-san?" A small girl of about ten in a light blue kimono peeked tentatively into the tiny hut. A small fire in the center, a censer pouring out incense into the room. On the other side of the fire sat the Lonely One.  
  
"Aye? Chikako-chan, is that you?"  
  
"H- hai, Ichi-san." She stepped nervously inside.  
  
"Aah," Said the man with the twisted neck "What can I help you with?"  
  
"Ano...Ichi-san, I was wondering..." She bit her lip.  
  
"Hnn?" He raised an eyebrow. Only one could be seen with the way his neck rested on his shoulder, so perhaps he raised both.  
  
"A- a lady wants to see you, Ichi-san."  
  
"Hmm, send her in, Chikako."  
  
"H- hai!"  
  
The small disappeared through the door. Moments later, a larger, hunchbacked form squeezed through the curtains. A ratty, old kimono draped loosely around her shoulders. She leered at him with squinting, black eyes.  
  
"Emi..." He muttered under his breath. The word held a certain pathos that longed for days long ago. No scorn or contempt was audible in his word.  
  
"Zatoichi," She whispered, anger evident in her shrill voice. "It has...been a long time, no?"  
  
"Hai, Emi-chan, it has."  
  
"Don't call me that."  
  
"That is your name, old friend, and your only one."  
  
"Wrong. I have been given a new name now. One that does not mock me when it is spoken. My name is Malia. The bitter one."  
  
"Never heard that one before."  
  
"I'm sure you haven't. It isn't Japanese."  
  
"What are you doing here, Emi?"  
  
"I need something of you."  
  
"Aah, as I suspected."  
  
"Don't..."  
  
"What do you need?"  
  
"Six strangers came here yesterday, asked about Suzume, my sister."   
  
He looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"So?" His steely eyes shimmered in her direction.  
  
"So I need you to help me find them before they reach her. Where are they now?"  
  
A bony hand pointed to the southeast. "Two miles, grassland, by the old cedar, half-mile from The Scar."  
  
A nod, and she was gone in a fluttering of cloths. Zatoichi sighed, and picked up a blanket with his working hand, covered himself up, and drifted into a troubled sleep.  
  
The earth was shaking off sleep. A few chirrups of songbirds erupted from the foliage of the tree, a little too close to Inuyasha's face for his to remain asleep for long. He pounced down, landing on his feet. Miroku and Sango were sitting around the fire, their eyes still full of sleep. A couple dim brushstrokes of gray diffused across the skyline. There was dew on the grass and a fresh smell to the air. Inuyasha saw Shippo still asleep, buried in Kirara's fur.  
  
He looked to the two humans.  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
"Firewood." Miroku said. Evidently, Kagome was the only morning person in this group. Inuyasha sat, cross-legged, on the ground in front of the dying fire.  
  
"Stupid girl," He said, staring off into the dull red glow that seeped out of the embers. "She'll get herself killed."  
  
Kagome sat at the edge of a stand of pine trees a small walking distance from their camp. Leaning against a dead tree trunk, a large pile of branches lay to her right. Her eyes were somewhat swollen and puffy, and her cheeks were slightly damp. Her nose was running and her hair was mussed.  
  
She bit her lip to stave off another sob. "What would Inuyasha say? He'd say, 'You stupid human girl, crying all the time. Weak little human.' " She might have smiled at that if she hadn't burst into tears once more. One visit to this witch Inuyasha kept talking about and they would be on their way back to the well. Inuyasha had heard about a magic worker who could heal people in a village last week. Though, why Inuyasha cared about a little scar Kagome couldn't say. She was about to start crying again when she heard a noise from the underbrush.  
  
"Now, child, no need to cry."  
  
"Who said that?"  
  
"'Tis only poor old Suzume, a gentle witch who has been told of your wishes."  
  
"Oh. How'd you find us."  
  
Emi, thought a moment, then said in a counterfeit soft voice: "An old friend from the village told me of your arrival. He said that there was something you want from me?"  
  
"Uh...I guess so. Why don't you come out?"  
  
"Blast!" Muttered to old lady, and she walked slowly out of the thicket and into the open.   
  
"Please do not be deceived by Suzume's looks, child, she's only hideous on the outside."  
  
"Why, I... I mean, you're not hideous, Suzume-san."  
  
Emi held up a hand to wave away the flattery. "Ay, I don't need your sympathy. I have something to give you."  
  
"What is it?" Kagome stood, flattening out her skirt.   
  
The old woman held out her hand. Sitting in her palm was a small brassy-colored ring, with a tiny crystal fragment in the center. A piece of string was tied to it. She suddenly tossed it up toward the girl. Kagome glanced up at the ring and caught it. She looked back to where the old woman had been, and saw that she was gone. A black bird flew out a tree above. A honey voice echoed in the trees.  
  
"Come to Suzume by the evening. When the sun is kissing the trees and shadows grow long, ye will see the power of Suzume by The Scar..."  
  
Kagome looked at the thing in her hand. It was a beautiful necklace, and the woman did give it to her... maybe she would wear it until she saw the old witch again, then she would give it back. Just a little while. Kagome slipped it over her head and around her neck. She admired the way it looked on her, and saw how it refracted small pieces of rainbows onto her chest. Just a little while, the she would give it back. Maybe.  
  
"I don't know what is going to happen today," She said softly to No One. "but I think it will be something big. Something..." Kagome looked up at the sky just as the sun peeked over the horizon.   
  
"...Unnatural."  
  
Review, if you want. If not...oh, well. Doesn't matter to me. 


	3. The Leper

Oh, yeah, I forgot. No, I don't own Inuyasha. Big surprise there, I'm sure.   
  
Welcome To The Machine  
  
Chapter III: The Leper  
  
There is a man who lives alone. His only contact with humans is with a young girl named Chikako, for only in the eyes of a child can he find comfort in anything but solitude. This man walks with his neck bent at an unnatural angle, resting the left cheek against the left shoulder. The man with the twisted neck can only use one arm, as his other is merely dead weight. His speech is slightly muffled, and his movements are slow and lanky. He avoids men, and men avoid him.   
  
This is what happens when one crosses The Circle. He had once been one of them, a mystical fanatic following Emi, his childhood friend, blindly in her chasing of the wind across the sky. For all of her condemnation of mankind, she relied heavily upon them. He did not hate men. He did not hate anyone, but he could not be around others. A muscular injury on one side has made him an outcast in his own community. Now he is a hermit, living alone, feeding off the earnings of others. His young friend gathered food for him. Perhaps she stole it, though he hoped not. He hated depriving others of their spoils simply because he could not provide for himself. In the back of his mind, he hoped he could die soon. He will not be a cancer on his own family.   
  
Being alone lets him forget about hating men. All these things ruminate in his mind as he walks in a lop-sided stroll down the street of his village. People, the living statues, move all about, slowly, unhurriedly, like they have since he was a child. So many things have changed since then, so many things have stayed the same. One will notice, upon entering the village, that there are no children, only slaves. The village Zatoichi grew up as a child in had thrived. Harvest were plentiful, herds were healthy and fat, and this small hamlet was an almost idyllic place. But then The Circle had been formed.   
  
Zatoichi had been as much a part of it as any other in the group, though he himself could not recall his reasons. The Circle members blindly followed Emi's desires, absorbing her rhetoric as if she was some kind of Oracle. It was an irony, Ichi thought to himself, that they still called themselves The Circle. Now, they were not a circle, or even a band, they were sheep. Emi had risen to god-like status in their eyes, and Zatoichi faulted them for it. He had been punished for his insubordination. There was the hut he had been looking for up ahead.  
  
Pushing aside the curtains, he crouched into the hut. No need to knock, Suzume always knew he was there.  
  
"Hello, Ichi-dono." A gentle voice said behind a veil of incense.  
  
"Konnitchiwa, Suzume-san. How are you, this morning?"  
  
"Eh," She mumbled, "So-so."  
  
"Why only so-so?"  
  
"I have heard news from Enomoto Akio. He tells me that Emi-chan is dealing in unfair business again." The last phrase sounded like a question.  
  
"Hai, Suzume-san, I fear Emi is becoming even more mired in the delusion that she is some kind of god. This makes her think little of other's benefit."  
  
"What is it this time that I must save my sister from herself?"  
  
"She didn't say. Just asked me about those strangers that came yesterday. She wanted to find them."  
  
"I suppose I'll have to make sure she doesn't kill them or anything."  
  
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I think Emi is planning something big for tonight."  
  
"Hnn. The stars tell of a great savior coming tonight. She is called Hotaru, the God-light. The Oracle says the stars tell her that it is to be the night of her arrival, tonight."  
  
"What does this mean?"  
  
"I can't say. All I know is, the legend says that Hotaru travels with a demon."  
  
"A demon?"  
  
"And he is to be called Bodaway, the Fire-maker. If Hotaru is killed, as prophecy says, Bodaway will destroy the earth with his claws. I do not know what this name means, but it comes from a land far away, I am told, across the great seas."  
  
"Tonight she will come, you say?"  
  
"Hai," Said Suzume "Tonight, when the sun kisses the horizon."  
  
"Evening, then."  
  
"Yes."

* * *

A great bonfire stood in the middle of The Scar. Otherworldly rocks seemed strewn about as if a giant had been skipping stones, and the black mountain at the northern end loomed in the dusk sky. A maelstrom of fireflies danced about the fire's orange halo, fading into the smoke as they rose. Ten wild-eyed, arrhythmic dancers contorted in a circle to a beatless song, their faces covered in a red clay. Into the fire, Emi threw a handful of something, and the flames turned blue. All saw this as a great sign from above. The gods were pleased with their celebration of the Savior, and blessed them with blue fires.   
  
"Ah-tori ah-tori Aah toh vislek. Shi-lai bintun Da!" She yelled into the orange evening. The Sacred cup was brought up to her mouth, and she took it. There was a pinkish liquid in the cup, and the filled her mouth with it. After a few odd hand signals, she spit the water back into the cup, and handed it back to the one who brought it to her. The wild dance was stopped, and all gravitated to the Oracle, Malia, as they now called her. The cup was passed around, and everyone took a sip. Within moments, every one of them began swaying, back and forth, side to side, their eyes rolled back into the head, apparently in the throes of some rapture. And again they danced.

* * *

"There was once a time when I was a beautiful young woman." Lied Emi, who sat, crouched, looking up at the two strangers.  
  
"What happened?" Kagome elbowed Inuyasha in the side for this, leaving him silent and annoyed.  
  
"No need." Soothed the old woman. "Inuyasha-san, I can honestly say that I do not know what became of my looks. They faded away into wrinkles and liver marks. But worrying over things long laid to rest is only a chasing of the wind. I don't care much about anything anymore."  
  
"You should probably take this back." Said Kagome, holding the ring necklace in her palm.   
  
"Keep it. I've no need for jewelry anymore." A distant look came onto her face. "I'm beginning to think myself worthless."  
  
"Ano...about what we came here for..."  
  
"The scar on your back."  
  
"Hai. Is there anything you can do about it? I'd be willing to find some kind of payment or something."  
  
"No need for payment. After all the human race has done for me, I'd like to return a little on occasion."

* * *

"Drink this." Emi handed Inuyasha handed Inuyasha a cup. He looked at the liquid inside then sniffed it. He made a face.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It is essential to the ceremony. Kagome's scar tissue cannot be healed until all involved have drank from the cup."  
  
Inuyasha sighed. "Whatever." And he drank some.  
  
A small smile apeared on Emi's face, and she took the cup back.   
  
"Kagome-san." She said, motioning for Kagome to come. Inuyasha seemed strangely quiet. Kagome sat cross-legged next to Inuyasha around the small fire, which illuminated the inside of the cave. It was dark outside now, and The Scar seemed eerily deserted.  
  
"Kagome-san, I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on the sound of my voice, the crackling of the fire, the echoes in the cave around you. Become one with your surroundings. Concentrate on every smell, every taste or sensation you experience. Pay no attention to the words I'm saying, just listen to the sound."  
  
So, Kagome closed her eyes, breathed deeply but softly, and did as the old lady had said. The old woman's words were blurring, becoming only a hypnotic murmur from somewhere in the back of her mind. She heard drips of moisture far off down the corridor of stone. She tasted something akin to cinnamon on her tongue as she licked her lips. Woodsmoke and dank humidity were all that she smelled. A tingling sensation at the back of her neck.  
  
"Italnik gwa-tchi do. Ee-estonobine dastilnei-ee. Da..." Meaningless words filtered through her mind.  
  
"All right, Kagome-san, you may open your eyes."  
  
Kagome did so. She looked around. Everything seemed the same. The fire, the cave, the witch, Inuyasha. She looked at Inuyasha. His eyes stared straight ahead, unmoving. He was motionless, almost catatonic. His eyes drooped and he never seemed to inhale.  
  
"Suzume-sama...what's happened to Inuyasha?"  
  
"He has drank of the cup.'  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"That liquid is the juice of the food of the underworld. It is the food that Izanami ate when she was killed by the burns from the fire god as she gave birth to him. While in the underworld, Izanaki, her husband, came to fetch her. She told him that she had eaten of the food of the underworld, and could not go with him. The rest is kind of depressing, I must say."  
  
"Almost like Persephone..." Kagome muttered. "But what does this have to do with Inuyasha?"  
  
"Having drank of the juice, he is between the two worlds. The world of the living...and the world of the dead."  
  
"Wh- how can we fix it?"  
  
:"You can't 'fix' it, you can only subdue it. That ring I gave you has a crystal that was taken from a sacred mountain to the north. Put it around his neck, and it should keep him at least partially grounded in this realm."  
  
"I understand...I think, but why did you give it to him in the first place?"  
  
"It is necessary to the ceremony, and it worked. Feel your neck." Kagome felt, and her scar was gone.  
  
"That still doesn't answer my question. Does this happen every time this ceremony is performed?"  
  
"No. Generally, I purify the Sacred Water. I use my powers to weaken the magic of the Water, I did not think Inuyasha-san would need it weakened. I guess I was wrong."  
  
"This necklace, you say, will keep Inuyasha in this world?" She had an incredulous lilt to her voice.  
  
"It should. Put it on him."  
  
"As if he doesn't' have enough things around his neck already. The rosary, the shikon jewel..." Kagome took off the necklace, and put it over Inuyasha's head.  
  
Emi's eyes widened almost imperceptibly.  
  
...The Shikon jewel...


	4. Withinroad

Welcome To The Machine  
  
Chapter IV: Withinroad  
  
"It's a strange thing, this life." Said the Lonely One. "We run around in circles, fretting over the meaningless things. Do I like them anymore? Am I out of favor with that family? Does she love me? Pointless."  
  
With superfluous gesticulation, Zatoichi strutted in his half-trot fashion around the hut. He had come to Suzume's once more, this night more worked up and irritable and distracted than she had ever seen this normally docile hermit. Had the air been less pregnant, she might have smiled or chuckled at the way he exaggerated every word as if it were something deeply profound and substantive, not realizing he was rambling in drone, disconnected mumbles.   
  
"I mean, what an irony this is. There are so many more layers to this universe in addition to this plane we exist in. My meditations have shown me the ineffability of our existence, to the point that I find no words to express how holy is the nothingness that lies beyond this realm. Oh yes, Suzume-san, I have always meditated and practised my magic, even after my rather violent...parting of ways with Emi."  
  
"What's got you so worked up tonight, Ichi-san? For a gentle pacifist, you are very enthusiastic tonight."  
  
"I cannot explain it, Suzume-san. It's like the universe opened up to me last night. Like a vision. No. An experience. It makes me feel so humble yet, at the same time, as though I have a purpose. I'm being obscure, aren't I? My father always told me that obscurity is the mechanism of a lazy mind. I'd do good to follow his lessons even today."  
  
"Any reason why you come to me?"  
  
"I want to express all these random thoughts in some way. I need to vent."  
  
"Fine," Suzume settled back into a comfortable sitting position, and looked up at him in the half-dark of the twilight. "Vent."

* * *

'The answer eludes me.' Thought Emi, as she stared into the darkness between her eyes. 'Amateras-Ohmikami still hides from Susanoh, leaving the world in darkness, concealing the answer from me in shadows.   
  
'The Shikon Jewel... Gods! Where could this weak human girl have gotten the powerful Shikon no tama? Could Hotaru be real? Could the God-light be real? Then maybe this demon really is Bodaway. The Oracle said the Savior would arrive tonight...maybe she is already here. Oh, Emi,' She thought, for she referred to herself by her given name during introspection. 'you might have stumbled onto something great! If this...savior is real, then maybe her innocent mind can be bent to perceive the world in a different way.  
  
'...In my way.'

* * *

"I'm glad it's raining." Said Kagome to herself, as she squinted up at the brooding, gray sky above. "No one can see that you're crying when it rains."  
  
Sheets of rain came down from the sky in a bedlam of thunder and mist-imbued gales, blowing from the east. She was drenched. Her hair was clinging to her face and neck and shoulders, and her skin was visible through the clothing in a few spots, but she paid it no mind. Why she was crying, she herself couldn't say for sure. Perhaps because of the recent incident involving Inuyasha. He was becoming more and more distant and detached, more apathetic then usual. Only Kagome was starting to think that this wasn't simply a mask her wore to hide his feelings, she was becoming convinced that Inuyasha, her Inuyasha was slipping more and more into the Otherworld, and there was nothing she could do.  
  
The kind, old witch had told her that the crystal ring/necklace could only anchor him to this world for so long, and then he must struggle within himself to stay in this world; an ordeal that would, in the end, leave him either in one world or the other.   
  
But, then again, maybe that wasn't why she was crying. Maybe she was just so sorry to have to leave this world to go home. "Home." Kagome remembered hearing a clichéd saying. "Home is where the heart is." She believed it went. If so, then Kagome would be leaving her home tomorrow, and with Inuyasha in this quasi-catatonic state, her home may very well be in some other world.   
  
"I'm getting wet." She stared passively at the cold dampness that had sunk into her clothes. It didn't matter. None of it mattered anymore. Her world was slowly starting to be seen by her as a bleak and joyless place, gray and cold and lifeless. Strangely, her thoughts began to wander to the old witch. What a nice lady Suzume was. She healed Kagome, she tried to help Inuyasha, even if she had failed there. No. If Inuyasha wasn't strong enough to find a mainstay in this reality, that was his own fault. Yes, everything was Inuyasha's fault now. The wonderful truthsayer Suzume was a wonderful, kind old lady.   
  
Kagome didn't realize how her thinking was becoming distorted and her loyalties were slowly shifting.  
  
Inuyasha, half-dazed, walked under the covering of the tree, toward the crying girl who was sitting out in the rain. He was struggling to stay lucid, and his concentration became distracted and disconnected. He knew this girl, he knew he knew her; but who was she? The face looked dimly familiar, and he knew the voice, but the haze of this drug clouded his memories in a miasma of confusion.  
  
What am I going to say? Inuyasha thought as he walked up behind her. I can't even remember her name. I know her name, I must know her name. Gods, I'm losing my mind. I don't even remember my own name right now.  
  
He was getting wet himself now.   
  
"Um…Hi." It was all he could come up with at the moment.  
  
For a second, Kagome looked startled, Inuyasha having walked up on her, but she sighed and looked back to the threatening sky on the horizon.   
  
"Oh. Hello, Inuyasha." Her voice was drone and monotone, almost indifferent. She did not realize that her actions were being affected too, now.  
  
Inuyasha's pride and obstinance were evidently in the Otherworld with his memory, so he sat down next to her, leaning against the same rock as she, looking at the same sky as she. She wiped her face to remove all evidence of her crying. Why had she been crying in the first place? She had been foolish, crying over Inuyasha. Now she realized that all of this was his fault. Everything was his fault.  
  
"Are you…all right?" Anything to keep from letting her know that he did not know her name.  
  
Kagome chortled. "I'm fine, Inuyasha. Is there something you wanted?" She was becoming petulant.  
  
"Or perhaps you wanted to talk about the weather?" Her hand pointed to the sky.  
  
"It's raining."  
  
"I noticed."  
  
"Really, Inuyasha. Is there something in particular that you want? No? Then please leave me to myself, if you don't mind."  
  
"Out here? But you'll freeze. It's almost nighttime, and it'll probably get cold tonight, so you could freeze out here. Freeze or drown, one."  
  
A small smile appeared on the Crying Girl's face as she looked up at him. Even with her recent anger at the hanyou, Kagome knew she still loved him, deep down. She hated him right now, for reasons she couldn't say. Yet, at the same time, she was in love with him in a way that couldn't be explained in words. A sigh escaped her lips as she gave into her hearts entreaties.  
  
"Inuyasha," She said, grabbing his hand. "Sit down next to me."  
  
She pulled him down on the wet ground next to her, and leaned her head on his shoulder. The rain still poured down on them as they sat, disillusioned to the troubles that faced them, but knowing somehow that things would probably be all right.  
  
Probably.  
  
"Damn!" Cursed Emi, as she came out of the trance. "That stupid girl is stronger than I thought."


	5. Evensong

Welcome To The Machine  
  
Chapter V: Evensong  
  
The red sun had winked out behind the skyline, and the dome above had started to turn dark blue. The moon was waxing; a small crescent, God's thumbnail, quavering with lambent, silvern beams. Luna was watching her larger brother very carefully tonight. These shafts of light fell upon two dim, dark figures standing in the shadows of trees that reached like titans for the sky.   
  
Sango and Miroku watched sadly from beyond the treeline. All farewells, save for this one last one, had been said. Sango's eyes were still bloodshot and puffy from crying. It was strange, Miroku didn't remember ever seeing her cry before. Shippo perched himself on the monk's shoulder, and Kirara nuzzled herself against her master's ankle.   
  
They all wondered, then, what would happen now. Kagome was going, most likely forever, and all they could do was wish her a bittersweet goodbye, and hope to see her again one day. The air around their parting had a certain atmosphere of permanence about it. This truly was for forever. And she would be gone. Forever.  
  
...Forever...

* * *

"Well, Inuyasha, I..." Kagome trailed off, staring into his face. She fidgeted with her fingers, and bit her lip, and exhibiting all the other minutiae of one very nervous or anxious. Looking at his expression, she knew that, though he was trying desperately to remember her, remember why he should be so sad at her leaving, the memories and feelings of the man-boy she had known two days ago had left him, leaving nothing but an empty shell of a body with the mind of her love.  
  
"Kagome... I, I'm sorry that I can't remember." He was sincere, she could tell. "I want to remember you."  
  
A small, sad smile appeared on her face as she looked softly up at him. Kagome grabbed his hand, held it in her's.  
  
"I know that you're not exactly my Inuyasha, but..." She quickly glanced away to keep from crying. "If he's in there somewhere, tell him this."  
  
She very gently put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Nothing dramatic; no fireworks, no lusty moans, only a silent, final, simple, goodbye. A small tear pearled down her cheek, and disapeared into the porous cloth of Inuyasha's haori.  
  
"And tell him that I love him."   
  
With that, she turned around, and jumped into the well.   
  
She was gone. Gone forever. Though he didn't remember why, Inuyasha sensed what he had just lost, and knew what had to be done. A memory fragment of a plan came back into his mind.   
  
In order to save Kagome...he must forget her.  
  
So, with little trepidation, Inuyasha walked over to the well, and, ripping out a tree to the roots, he jammed it into the well. It pushed outward at the stone structure, knocking a few stones loose, as he gave it a final push. The tree was lodged tightly inside the well. A vague sense of deja vu came into his mind. He felt that he had done this exact thing once before, so long ago.  
  
Neither Sango nor Miroku spoke a word as Inuyasha walked slowly past them, toward the road that led back to the village they had just come from. He had a strange look in his eyes, Sango noticed.

* * *

A birling of wispy incense eeked out into the humid air of the hut around Emi. In classic lotus position, a small smile spread across her wrinkled face. A caramel ray of dusk light filtered across the floor. Her eyes opened slowly, and a small chuckle escaped her lips.  
  
"Time to come back to me, my son."  
  
A low rustling sounded outside the door, and a hoarse voice called out, dull and lifeless.   
  
"I am here, master. What do you wish of me?"  
  
"Inuyasha, did you do as I asked?"  
  
"Hai." A small, crystal reflection streaked through the opening, rolling gently before her.  
  
Emi held the Shikon Jewel in her hand, examining the lucent orb between her fingers with keen interest.   
  
"Inuyasha, I have something else I want you to do for me."  
  
"Hai, sensei."  
  
'Yes,' Thought Emi. 'The Circle will be pleased...' A quickening glance moved over the shadowy form in the corner, bits of dark red showing in the half-light of the cabin.  
  
'...Until they find out what I have planned for them..."

* * *

"Suzume-san, I think we have a problem."  
  
"Hai, Ichi-san?" Suzume looked up at him, almost startled, as he burst through the cloth entrance to her hut.  
  
"Emi is meddling once again in others' lives."  
  
"No great surprise there. Why do you look so panicked?"  
  
"Because it's not just the strangers' lives at stake." Zatoichi was haphazardly dressed, his hair looked even more disheveled that usual. A wild, vacant look was in his normally prescient, perceptive eyes.  
  
"How do you mean?" Knowing her sister, Suzume was filled with a sudden emotion akin to fear. Emi was a careless tamperer. If anyone could unravel the fabric of the universe while trying to fufill their own selfish desires, it was Emi.  
  
"It's involving Hotaru, and Bodaway. Emi has used, I think, The Circle members' limited knowledge on this legend to manipulate them. She has used the Elixir on the ones called Inuyasha and Kagome. While under the influence of this powerful drug, she place in their minds certain...triggers. All that is needed for her to control a subject is for her to use a simple call-and-response memorized dialogue. This will take her into the victim's Inner Chamber. The place where our root feelings and emotions are. By changing some things around inside the Chamber, a skilled puppetmaster can distort the person's logic, even." Zatoichi looked thoughtful for a moment, then sighed. "Why am I telling you all this? You already know most of this anyway."  
  
"Hnn. But what is most important right now is a way counteract the Elixir. Were did Emi get any of that anyway?"  
  
"It's not The Elixir, I don't believe. It must be some kind of sacred plant or herb that allowed her to enter these innocents' minds."  
  
"But don't forget the legend, and what the Oracle said. They may just be the fulfillment of her prediction."  
  
"It can't be."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"The girl, Kagome- Hotaru, as they call her - has gone nearly a day's travel from here. Inuyasha arrived last night."  
  
"Gods," Said Suzume, exasperated. "I don't know what to do. My older sister will be the death of me."  
  
"And everyone else in Japan."  
  
"Hai. We'll have to get some help."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Tomorrow, we'll go see the Oracle. She'll know what to do."

* * *

I apologize for short length and delay in getting chapter up. My appreciation to all reviews, and I'll will earnestly try to get a new chapter out soon. My life is kind of busy right now, so don't be surprised if it takes a few days.   
  
Thank you for your time. 


	6. The Oracle

Welcome To The Machine  
  
Chapter VI: The Oracle  
  
"You know, Miroku, we really shouldn't be doing this." Sango and Miroku walked, side by side, down the dirt trail, Shippo and Kirara in tow.  
  
"Sango-sama, please calm down. What if Inuyasha is in some kind of trouble?"  
  
"I know, but... it isn't really any of our business, is it?"  
  
"Why, of course, it is. He is our friend, Sango, and Inuyasha's safety is our concern. With Kagome gone..."  
  
The road was long and serpentine, slithering in unrestrained flexion toward the looming mountains in the distance. Great upheavals of volcanic mist, spewed from subterranean vaults hidden deep within the bosom of the earth. A large ring of opalescent clouds coalescing with sulphuric steam hovered at the feet of the mountains.   
  
"We're going _there_ again?" Sango asked, not without uneasiness. That town gave them all odd feelings.  
  
"Unfortunately, that's the only place Inuyasha could be going."  
  
"Well, we'd better not stand here and talk. Let's get this over with."

* * *

The only sound in the well-house was a gentle pattering of feet on a wooden floor. Kagome stepped over the lip of the well begrudgingly, a tear still undried on her cheek. She wiped her nose with her sleave and flaggingly tugged her backpack, using her own weight to force it over the edge. Something gave way and she fell backwards and fell on her rump with a loud noise. Kagome looked up to see her backpack beside her and some stones missing from the well's structure. She looked around her, but saw none of them. In fact, it looked like they had been missing for a long time. She shrugged it off, picked up her pack, and, with a sigh, walked back to the house.   
  
She stepped through the sliding doors to be greeted by the wonderful smell of some food. The fat feline of hers plopped down at her feet, haughty in its innate feline way, and affectionate in Buyo's natural way.   
  
Gently shaking off the cat, Kagome walked into the kitchen. Her mother was at the stove, absorbed in the cooking of whatever it was she was cooking. At the soft sound of footfall on the linoleum, Mrs. Higurashi looked up at her daughter's forlorn face. She knew what was happening, and she wished she could help.  
  
"Oh, Kagome..." Her mother's expression was almost as distressed as Kagome's.  
  
"Mama, I -- " Kagome ran to her mother, sobbing into her shirt. Mrs. Higurashi gently stroked her daughter's hair with one hand while trying to keep the food from burning.

After a quiet dinner(Sota was eating at a friend's house), Kagome went upstairs to take a bath. Tossing her clothes haphazardly on the floor, she wordlessly immersed herself in the near-hot water. Her head slipped under, and she didn't hold her breath. For a few moments, the world was nothing but an eerie silence. She was trapped in an endless moment in surreal quietude. She never actually considered staying under there, but she wondered for a moment what it would be like to slowly drown in a bath tub, all alone. She wondered if there would be pain or discomfort, she wondered what would happen after her consciousness faded to blackness. Or perhaps she would remain conscious the whole time, waking inside a mother's womb into a new life, or opening her eyes to see a beautiful paradise.   
  
But these thoughts can only be dwelt on for so long before they lose their enchantment and wonder. As bleak and somber as life was right now, suicide certainly never would be the right answer. At least she had told herself that.   
  
Leaning her head against the bath wall, Kagome stared at the ceiling. Innumerable thoughts and ideas passed through her mind in a single moment that, in her reverie, the ringing of the phone in her room sounded like an eldritch banshee's shriek, warning her of her own approaching death. She tossed aside any possibility that there was a prescient foreboding in this thought.  
  
"Kagome, the phone's for you!" Came the call from downstairs. "Do you want me to tell them that you don't feel like talking?"  
  
"That's all right, mama!" Kagome yelled out of her door. A small pink towel was wrapped around her and her wet hair was clinging to her face and neck. She sat down on the bed and picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?" She said with as much false cheerfulness as she could muster.  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
That voice...  
  
"Hello? Kagome? Are you there? You may not understand this..." A bit of static obscured their next few words. "...I'm sorry! Do you hear me? I'm sorry! The store on the corner... I --"  
  
The phone clicked off.

* * *

"Wake up, Inuyasha-sama."   
  
A sinister voice wafted through the vacant corridors of Inuyasha's mind. Like rising out of a mist, his consciousness slowly surfaced. A distant, cold almost-numbness could be felt at the peripheral of his consciousness. Next, the burnt odor of woodsmoke burned his nostrils. The dim taste of something akin to cinnamon on his tongue. Finally, he opened his eyes.   
  
Shadowy creatures swayed in the dust in a large circle round the fire. Arms askew, the charcoal silhouettes wobbled in sympathy to a beatless drum. The Circle members were invoking the spirits of their gods, and their contorted faces showed of ones possessed.  
  
"What..." Inuyasha's tongue and throat were dry, his voice harsh. "What is going on? Where am I?"  
  
"Now, now," Said Emi, in her naturally gruff voice. "All will be well soon, Inuyasha-sama. Once the Oracle blesses the ceremony, our little plan will unfold, and I will possess the greatest power."  
  
"The greatest power?"  
  
"Immortality."  
  
A soft voice echoed off the craggy angles of granite around them.   
  
"All be still!"  
  
The dancers uniformly tumbled to the ground in heaps. An Otherworldly silence reigned over the Scar as a hooded figure walked slowly toward where Inuyasha was tied to the wall. His arms had been tied spread apart, fastened around two large boulders above. He was too drugged to move anyway.  
  
Inuyasha could only half-consciously watch as the dark shadow stood a foot from him.  
  
He could only stare into that black nothingness that rested within the hood. An arm reached up toward his face. Out of the long sleeve, a hand came and stroked his cheek. The hand was soft, femenine. Young.  
  
"It's..." The voice matched the hand: gentle and almost musical. "...been a long time, eh, Inuyasha?"  
  
The hood fell to her shoulders, and there she stood. She looked older. Raven hair, blue-grey eyes, plumply peach skin, not overfull lips that curled up surreptitiously at the corners...  
  
"Kagome..."

* * *

Sorry 'bout the delay. Although I honestly don't care about reviews, it certainly won't hurt my inspiration or self-esteem to get a few... 


	7. Conversations With Death

Welcome To The Machine  
  
Chapter VII: The Oracle  
  
"I know you want to, Inuyasha."  
  
The soft tip of Kagome's nose gently caressed Inuyasha's cheek, moving up and down in small circles. The stupor of the drug was gradually wearing off but Inuyasha was still very confused as to how Kagome was here and why she looked so much older. This older Kagome was tempting him and enticing him for some reason. Her whispers echoed about the dark cave they were in, alone.  
  
"What are you doing? Where are we, Kagome? What's goin' on?"  
  
"Oh, questions, questions. So sorry, my love, but I have no answers for you. Come." She grabbed his hand and led him down a hazy granite corridor into a small pocket, like a room. A small fire burned brightly on the opposite side of the room, and sent some nervous, dancing reflections across the surface of a small pool of water. In the corner, he made out a bed on the floor, and his nervousness grew slightly.  
  
"Sit."  
  
Inuyasha flinched at first when he heard the word, forgetting how she had taken the rosary from around his neck herself. He did as told and sat on the cloths. His mysterious guide bent down toward him, her eyes dancing like moonlight, her eyes bent slightly, almost shyly downward. Then she kissed him.   
  
The world was a polyphony of subterranean sounds, echoing around him, slurring into one another. Soon, the _drip drip drip_ of moisture in the distance melted softly into the unidentifiable scrapes and rustlings that one might hear beneath the bosom of Nature.   
  
The kiss was mostly one-sided at first, but as Kagome's soft body fell on his, pushing him down to the bed, Inuyasha's natural instinct as a part animal and, more importantly, as a man, took over. When he was mentally on the brink of total abandon, Inuyasha resecured control and pushed her off. He stood, somewhat shaken, and looked down at her. Could this really be his Kagome? The one he had a vague recollection of saying farewell to what seemed like only hours ago?   
  
Kagome looked up at him with set eyes, staring right at him, her emotions tempered inside of her and under control. He glanced at her relaxed figure, realizing how much more mature she seemed. Then he looked forcefully into her eyes. There it was again. Kagome suddenly seemed very shy and her eyes turned downward.  
  
"What's wrong with me?" She looked back up at him, but wouldn't look straight into his face.  
  
"What do you mean?" His voice was somewhat annoyed/disconcerted, and that made her become quiet again. After a long pause, she restated her question.  
  
"What's wrong with me? Why don't you want to be with me?" Inuyasha noticed a slight quiver in her voice, and that disturbed him.  
  
"How can I know that it's really you?"  
  
"I told you. I have no answers for you, but I expect them _from_ you. So don't answer a question with a question."  
  
"There's nothing...wrong with you, but I obviously don't know you. I know Kagome."  
  
"But I _am_ Kagome!" She looked as though about to cry, and looked, crestfallen, back to the floor. "I thought I was your Kagome."  
  
"My Kagome is five hundred years in the future, never to return. I've said my goodbyes to her once, and I'll not say them again; so, whoever you are, you can't be her."  
  
"You're right." She said, coming to a realization. "I can't be her. But I was her, seven years ago, until I came back here. Because of you, because of _you_!"  
  
"I haven't asked, but you just answered a number of my questions." He turned to leave the cave.  
  
"I'm sorry." She called after him. He stopped and turned to look at her. A pleading look spread across her features in the ruddy glow of the dying fire.  
  
"For what?"  
  
"This."  
  
Suddenly, the world was black once again, and Emi and Kagome, master and former apprentice, stood over the prone body of the half-demon.  
  
"Very nice acting job, love, I must say. Very convincing."  
  
An unsure expression momentarily flashed across the girl's, now a woman's, face.   
  
"Thank you, Emi."

* * *

Zatoichi was in a fair mood tonight. The beautiful sky above glittered down rains of moondust on his shoulder, and the enchanting Luna sat high upon her perch on this perfect night. There was something very different about this evening. There was a power that one could feel in the air all around. Something big was going to happen tonight.  
  
Dust scraped under his feet while he walked along this lonely path back to his isolated home. Unfortunately, this path, being the only one, went by in sight of The Scar. As the tall reeds thinned along the trail and The Scar could be seen clearly, Ichi wondered what terrible things happened in that evil place on nights like tonight. Nights darker than the blackness in Emi's eyes. Light from the bonfire that almost perpetually burned in the rocky space outside the cave reached Zatoichi's eyes, and the Lonely One remembered something. Something from long ago.  
  
It was seven or eight years ago, as he remembers, that a young girl came to Emi. Emi, or Malia, as she now calls herself, had agreed to take on the child as apprentice. To teach in the ways of the Circle. Soon after, he officially severed all ties with the Circle. It is only at this dark and forlorn place in his life that the old man remembers this fact. He had never gotten a chance to see the girl that had come a few days ago. If he had seen her, perhaps he could be sure of his old friend's plans. There was something planned about all this, something...ancient. Just now, at this moment, upon this dusty incline, on this night, something long ago foreseen was set into play.  
  
Zatoichi could not know if the old prophecies were true, but he knew that Emi believed them so. He also knew that his former friend would go to no end to fulfill her selfish desires.  
  
Suzume could not help him at this exact moment, as she was in another village, but Zatoichi decided right then and right there his course of action.  
  
He must destroy Emi.

* * *

All apologies for the very long delay, due to a combination of being very busy with a small dose of procrastination and a hint of forgetfulness. Any comments, complaints, tips, criticisms, etc. are well appreciated.


	8. Connections

Welcome To The Machine  
  
Chapter  
  
"Have you ever had that feeling, Inuyasha, where you're not...all there? Like you are observing, watching your body and mind work by itself, outside your control? The best word I can use to describe it is...surreal."  
  
"You're fuckin' crazy."  
  
"As I recall from my Psych. I class back when I was in school, it was called dis- dissociative depers- depersonalization. I often feel that way now. Ever since I consumed The Water and became their "Oracle." Now I must do things unthinkable just to make sure..."  
  
The small stem of a flower rotated in her hand. She hoped maybe...maybe Inuyasha would see it and remember. Remember what he'd done to her six years ago.  
  
"...to make sure I'm still real."  
  
Then again, maybe it hadn't happened yet.  
  
"I don't know why you're doing this, but I just want to go, be alone. I left you behind at the well. No. I left Kagome back at the well so far away, I don't need this and I don't want you. Especially now that you're a drone for some narcissistic old witch who thinks herself a goddess. Come down, you copy, and try and tell me Kagome's still in there somewhere."  
  
"What did you call me?" Anger and curiosity flared simutaneously in her eyes. She was a dimly-lit head hovering the in darkness of the cave.  
  
"A fake. You are not that girl that I sent home three days ago. You've gotten full of yourself now, and trained to be so. No, Kagome's not in there anywhere, you're a puppet."  
  
"Am I, Inuyasha?" An acid smile crept upon her lips, almost gloating at him behind a veil of darkness. Perhaps she was right. Maybe none of this was real. "Am I a puppet, a stooge? I once loved a boy, almost a man. I left him, and he forgot me. Now, I will make you realize what it is like to be alone. But you will still have your friends...physically, to care for your shell. No, I will make you more alone than you have ever felt..." She crept closer to his face, anger lines on her forehead entrenched in shadows but her eyes burning with a fire. This fire, this anger, this emotion made her, for once feel alive. Life was not ritual anymore; her heart pumped at a pace matching those of the transcendental drums booming outside. The wild chant of the Ghost Dancers swirled in her ears, echoed haunting rhythms in her mind, bled through the calloused wall that had been erected around her soul. Emotions inundated her weak defenses and, for the first time in five years, she felt it. She felt it coursing through her. She felt- she actually felt alive!  
  
"I," She snarled with surprising vehemence, "Will make you a stranger in your own mind. I will let you experience what I have felt in being abandoned by someone I cared for. My vengence won't be pain. It will be the lack of pain, the lack of feeling. You will be dead inside, as I have been for so long."  
  
A small feeling against her neck. A low rumble from deep within her throat.  
  
"Shall I use the back or front entrance?"  
  
"The back..." She leaned back a little, Inuyasha leaned forward. The prick on her vein was still there. "The Ghost Dancers are having their little ceremony out front."  
  
"The front it is, then." His claws came slowly away from her neck.  
  
As he walked out of the ring of gentle light of a small candle/lamp, Kagome yelled after him.  
  
"And thank you, Inuyasha."  
  
He turned incredulously back toward the small glimmers of dancing light on her face. "What for?"  
  
A wicked smile curled on her face. A mixture of envy, lust, loathing and gratitude.  
  
"For making me realize what I am. For making me face my own mortality and my own reality. It's all very Existential, you know."  
  
"You're crazy."  
  
"I, that I am." Her distortedly mirthful laughter followed him down the great black corridors of stone.  
  
"What should we do about this, Suzume-san?"  
  
"We've no choice, I suppose. All of the events I've seen in the fire-water are coming true, just too rapidly. Everything is leading up to a head, and we are forced to make our move. I fear it will not go as I planned.  
  
"An aquaintence from another village says that Emi may be trying to invoke some kind of god by using what she calls the Ghost Dancers. But I cannot find her reasons. Maybe she thinks she will actually ascend to god-consciousness?"  
  
"Perhaps, but I fear what will happen if her Ghost Dancers actually manage to invoke some form of god. If she angers a godform, it may do her harm. I know she is lost in her way, but I still don't want harm to come to her."  
  
"Nor do I, Zatoichi-san, but we cannot take many risks, and we can't let her get her wish in this. This must be played carefully.  
  
"It's our move, and we'd better choose wisely."  
  
It was a dreary day in Tokyo. Rain fell in slanted sheets against the great concrete giants, looming in the overcast sky above. Small streams of water formed on the streets, and all was as bleak as life in a city of this size could be. Or, at least, Kagome thought so.  
  
Thankfully, school was over for a couple months, and she could enjoy her vacation time by burying her nose in books to try and catch up to the rest of the class. Fun.  
  
She was also very grateful at that time that she didn't have to walk the whole way today. Her mother had given her money for the bus fare and she could only watch and sympathize with the poor unfortunates who had to walk as much as a mile just to come home from work or school. The bus stopped with a serpentine hiss in front of the shrine. She ran up the steps, her jacket over her head.  
  
After dinner and a shower, Kagome settled down quite comfortably on her bed, thumbing through a book that her father had always read while he was still around. She had often spent hours fingering the yellowed pages, wishing she could read whatever language it was in. Her only physical connection to her father, meaning, something he used and touched on an everyday basis. Of course, she supposedly inherited certain facial features, but his face was a great absence in her life. She knew his voice. She could still hear him, with his unpleasant accent and broken syntax, as he coo-cooed her and sang gentle songs to her as a very young child. Was she, she wondered, like him in ways not everyone could see? Maybe he was actually born with or aquired some sort of power or awareness or consciousness or something that made him make her what and who she was today. Other than his genes, she felt that her life was not affected in any tangible way by this huge hole in her existence, this great void in her memory and life.  
  
But today was the day that she would search out some formless bit of connectvity with him as a person, and not just a name. Her English grammer book beside her, and her English dictionary, she started, logically, with the front cover. Word by word, she deciphered the strange text as though it were some esoteric Enochian secret hidden behind obscure veils of metaphor and mysticism. She wrote it down on a notebook by her right elbow.  
  
"R...Rita- Rites And Maj- Magickal Practices of Native American Shamans and Healers, Vol. II."  
  
The words "By" and some crazy name with the abbreviation "Prof." in front of it stood below in bold relief. The words sounded alien to her as she sounded them out. Then she searched out their meanings. It took her a while to get the grammatical structure and related difficulties that always come of learning foreign languages, but by midnight, she had deciphered the first four paragraphs on the first page. Though it was only an introduction, she felt a foreshadowing of what strange and apocryphal secrets and rites were hidden within these pages. She flipped the pages, and stopped often to look at the obviously mystickal drawings and engravings that held innumerable meanings and guideways in the path of a shaman.  
  
She was tired and her neck was getting tight, so she reached over to turn off the light near her bed. Before the knob on the lamp clicked the second time, the phone rang.  
  
Should she answer? She had intentionally avoided the phone recently because of the strange call she received two days ago. But her mother would wake soon if she didn't pick up, and her mother had a hard enough time of it as it was supporting them.  
  
Her hand trembled above the phone. It's ring once again seemed eerily distorted, as though she was hearing her own death knell.  
  
Her fingers slowly closed over the receiver, and she lifted. She froze for a moment, wondering what she should say if it was the mysterious voice again. She pressed it to her ear, not saying a word.  
  
"Kagome?" The voice was clear, now, and it sounded calm but intent. She breathed deeply and spoke in a soft voice.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Heh...It is you. I..." A pause. She heard a deep breath on the other end. "I'm sorry if I scared you last time. I don't know how to go about this. I've waited four hundred and fif-"  
  
"Who are you?" Her speech was fast and nervous, and her voice quavered slightly.  
  
"Well, I...I'm who you probably think I am."  
  
"I....Inu...yasha?"  
  
"It's been a while."  
  
"Not that long for me. A few days."  
  
You're right. I forgot. I'm the who's been waiting five hundred years to warn you."  
  
"Warn me?"  
  
"I- I can't explain this over the phone. We'll meet."  
  
"Meet? Here? You live in Tokyo?"  
  
"Yes, no, and yes. We'll meet at the restaurant two blocks from you, to the west."  
  
"Yeah, I know the one."  
  
"Well, I...I should be letting you go soon."  
  
"Yeah, it was good to hear your voice again, Inuyasha."  
  
"Er...your's, too, Kagome. And my name's no longer Inuyasha. It's Ai."  
  
"Ai? Didn't spend too long searching, did you?"  
  
"I was in a position where I needed to come up with a name fast, and it stuck with me. Inuyasha just got way too many strange looks."  
  
"I understand. I s'pose I'll see you..."  
  
"Tomorrow. Tomorrow night at 7:45 at that restaurant. There's some things you have to know."  
  
"Okay. And you've a lot of explaining to do."  
  
"Goodbye, Kagome."  
  
"Bye."  
  
And the phone clicked off.  
  
Got a lot of things to say about things included in this and the next chapter(s), but I'll wait until I have a bit more structure to what I have to say before I put it up. Again, very sorry for the long, long, long delay between chapters. Been traveling, and had difficulty writing and thinking. Please, for my sake, have a very good evening/morning/afternoon/night. 


End file.
